Binghamton Police Pursue Arson Investigations

Binghamton police detectives are investigating a series of possible arson fires in the First Ward and on the city's West Side.

Police report some progress in their efforts to determine who may be responsible for last week's fire that tore through the old Lincoln Hotel building on Clinton Street.

Investigators believe the blaze at the former hotel started at the rear of the structure. It's not clear whether the fire was set by someone or if it could have been sparked by people smoking inside the abandoned building.

Two arson fires at the nearby empty E.H. Titchener factory building off Clinton Street also are under investigation.

A small fire on May 20 damaged a building at Glenwood Avenue and Brown Street that once housed a lumber business.

An apartment building at 126 Murray Street sustained heavy damage in an April 6 blaze. Authorities say that fire started in a mattress outside the back of the structure. That fire left about ten people homeless.

Police have been trying to determine whether any of the fires are connected.